New York Governor David Paterson is facing increasing pressure from state Democrats to defend his actions or resign in the wake of allegations that he may have used his authority to influence a domestic violence case involving one of his top aides. As the pressure rises on Governor Paterson, we take a step back to look at the issue of domestic violence around the country with Terry O’Neill, president of the National Organization for...

Utah lawmakers have approved a measure that would allow women to be charged with murder if they commit an "intentional, knowing or reckless act" that causes a miscarriage. Critics fear the measure could target women for all kinds of actions, including staying with an abusive partner. [includes rush transcript]

Eve Ensler has made it her lifelong mission to end violence against women and girls. The founder of V-Day and the bestselling author and playwright behind The Vagina Monologues, her latest book is a collection of fictional monologues and stories inspired by girls. It’s called I Am an Emotional Creature: The Secret Life of Girls Around the World. [includes rush transcript]

We end today’s show with the sad news of the passing of Haitian political activist Myriam Merlet. She died under the rubble of her home after it collapsed on her last week. Myriam Merlet was the Chief of Staff of the Haitian Ministry of Women and an outspoken feminist who helped draw international attention to the use of rape as a political weapon. We speak with playwright and activist Eve Ensler, who knew Myriam very well, and air video...

The Senate took a big step toward passing its sweeping healthcare bill early today. Shortly after 1:00 a.m., the Senate voted 60-40 along party lines to break a Republican filibuster and approve a motion to move the legislation to final passage later this week. The legislation has no public option, no expansion of Medicare eligibility, and includes restrictions on the use of federal funding for abortions. We speak with Salon.com blogger, Glenn...

On Wednesday, members of Planned Parenthood, NARAL, the National Abortion Federation, the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice, and the ACLU lobbied on Capitol Hill against the Stupak amendment that prohibits any woman who receives government health insurance subsidies from enrolling in an insurance plan that covers abortion. Meanwhile, the prominent blogger Jane Hamsher has launched a national phone bank campaign to target districts of...

Healthcare reform cleared its first hurdle in the Senate this weekend. In a party line vote of 60-39, the Senate voted Saturday evening to open debate on the bill put forward by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. All fifty-eight Democrats and both Independents voted in favor of the motion, while thirty-nine out of forty Republicans voted against it. At a news conference immediately following the vote, Reid said, "The road ahead is a long...

The rate of sexual assaults within the US military also exceeds that of the general population. A Pentagon report earlier this year found one in three female servicemembers are sexually assaulted at least once during their enlistment. Sixty-three percent of nearly 3,000 cases reported last year were rapes or aggravated assaults. Despite what some have called an epidemic of military sexual trauma, the delivery of healthcare to women veterans...

The bill has been described as the biggest overhaul of the country’s healthcare system since the Medicare and Medicaid Act of 1965. Among those who voted no was Ohio Democrat Dennis Kucinich, a leading proponent of a single-payer, Medicare-for-all healthcare system. Reproductive rights took a hit Saturday night when the House also passed an amendment to establish limits on the funding of abortions within the new framework that would be...

To talk more about Afghanistan, we are joined by Malalai Joya, one of Afghanistan’s leading democracy activists. In 2005, she became the youngest person ever elected to the Afghan parliament. She was suspended in 2007 for her denunciation of warlords and their cronies in government. She has just written her memoir, A Woman Among Warlords: The Extraordinary Story of an Afghan Woman Who Dared to Speak Out. [includes rush transcript]